Working capital is the cheapest source of growth capital a mid-cap has, and the one most often left to chance.
Step 1: measure the real cycle
Days sales outstanding, days inventory and days payable — calculated from the ledger, by customer and by SKU family, not from a dashboard average.
Step 2: segment, do not average
Twenty percent of customers usually account for most overdue value. Twenty percent of SKUs account for most slow-moving stock. Collections and stocking policy should follow that concentration.
Step 3: make ownership explicit
Collections owned by finance with a weekly cadence; credit limits enforced at order entry. Inventory owned by operations with a service-level target, so stock is not cut in a way that damages sales.
Step 4: reconcile monthly
A single page: opening cycle, closing cycle, cash released, and the two or three actions that produced the change. Reviewed with the promoter monthly.
Realistic expectations
Fifteen to thirty days of cycle improvement in six months is common in distribution and manufacturing. On ₹500 crore of revenue, that is ₹20–40 crore of cash — more than most mid-caps raise in a year of effort.